Dragon's child

•Eight•

A/N: My artwork. Isn't she cute~?

"Y-ya ready for this?"

"No...there's no way I could be."

"Let's go~!" Happy laughed, pushing open the shop door. The dragonslayers followed, Ryuchi holding onto Natsu's pant leg. "Wow, lookit all the clothes~!" The exceed flew excitedly around a display of frilly pink dresses.

Natsu looked over at Gajeel. While they might normally quarrel, they were united in this: they had no idea how to shop for a little girl. Happy pulled Ryuchi towards the display, jabbering about tints and shades. "Er, do you have any idea how to do this? The only shopping I've ever done is following Shrimp around a bookstore." Gajeel hissed.

"Luce drags me and Happy with her sometimes, but I normally fall asleep." Natsu whispered back.

"Great. So the only reliable one here is the cat." The two men looked over at Happy, who did indeed look like he was enjoying himself. Ryuchi, on the other hand, looked completely overwhelmed. She looked over at them, the unspoken plea for help very clear.

"Lay off a bit Happy, you're scaring her." Natsu scolded slightly.

"Okay, okay..." The exceed sighed, putting the dresses back. Ryuchi looked relieved. "These are too expensive anyway..."

"No kidding." Gajeel snapped, looking at the price tag. "Why the hel-heck are these things so expensive?!"

"Hearts Kruenz is one of the top brands in Fiore." Happy explained in a duh sort of tone.

"You mean, the company that makes Erza's armor?" Natsu asked.

"Aye. And Erza special-orders them, so she pays a lot more than normal."

"How do you know all this?" Natsu asked, slightly stunned.

Happy smirked at him. "This is what you get for sleeping through all of Lucy's shopping trips."

Natsu grumbled under his breath.

"Can we get back on task?" Gajeel snorted. Kneeling down, he addressed Ryuchi. "Now then, what would you like?"

"Not those." She answered immediately, staring at the dresses with a frightened fascination on her face.

"That's fine. Let's just...wander around and see if you like anything." Ryuchi nodded and began walking down the aisles, carefully inspecting each rack. They'd reached the end of the girl's section when her face lit up. Trotting into the boy's section, she pointed at a shelve of shorts. "These." She said decisively. "I like these."

"Shorts and t-shirts, huh?" Gajeel commented.

"It makes shopping a lot easier." Natsu said happily. As Happy instructed Natsu how to tell if the clothes were Ryuchi's size, Gajeel wandered to the next aisle to see what other stuff they had...and ended up bumping into a familiar face.

"Totomaru?"

"Black Steel Gajeel." The former Phantom Lord member laughed. "Been awhile."

"Too long." Gajeel shook his hand. "Ya still doin' that teachin' thing?"

"And enjoying it. One of my students managed an impressive fireball yesterday. Too bad it was when my back was turned working with another student. Had to get a new coat." He shook his head with an amused look on his face.

"Damn."

"I warn them all the time to only practice with supervision, but they're so enthusiastic, they never listen. But it's a small price to pay. Saw Fairy Tail clean up at the Games. How's Juvia?"